VSR BLASTER® air cannons

for pneumatic activation of bulk materials

in silos and processing plants
VSR BLASTER® air cannons

Filling:
Compressed air is supplied to the quick exhaust valve
through a small dia. filling and control piping via
a 3/2 way hand valve or solenoid valve.
The diaphragm in the quick exhaust valve closes the
18 mm outlet. The compressed air flows along the
diaphragm into the piston chamber. The outlet pipe is
closed by a piston, which is pre-tensioned by a spring.
The compressed air flows through the piston orifice
into the vessel which is then filled. When the operating ®
VSR BLASTER air cannon Type IV, with internal valve
pressure is reached the vessel is ready for use as
required.

Release:
By reversing the 3/2-way valve, the air supply is
interrupted and the control line is vented. The
diaphragm in the quick exhaust valve moves back and
vents the piston chamber. The piston, having twice the
cross section area of the blow pipe, reacts abruptly.
When it has travelled only a quarter of the blow pipe
diameter the entire cross section is opened.
This allows the stored air to flow within milliseconds,
explosively through the blow pipe into the silo. Finally
the piston is reseated by the pre-tensioning spring
which prevents any ingress of material into the air
cannon in its depressurized state.

Variations:
The alternative to the VSR BLASTER® air cannon with
internal valve is the external BOOSTER VALVE. This
Booster valve can be installed on every pressure
vessel. The unique tapered flange connection with a
tension clamp and only two screws allows easy and
rapid maintenance of the Booster valve. It is possible
to couple two Booster valves to one single pressure
vessel, thus giving two adjacent blast positions. VSR BLASTER® air cannon Type 2EV,
with external Booster valves

2
Typical problems and solutions

Funneling Ratholing Bridging Arching

®
High temperature application: riser duct with changeable nozzle system VSR BLASTER air cannons in a cement plant (Foto: Krupp Polysius)

Effect:
®
The VSR BLASTER air cannon instantaneously expells an explosion charge of compressed air directly into the
critical areas of silos, hoppers and heat exchangers. This explosive blast of energy destroys the material
adhesion and static friction resulting in a free flow under normal gravity.
Air is discharged directly into the material from a straight nozzle or alternatively via a fan shaped head or isobaric
sword nozzle in order to spread or concentrate the effort in specific areas.

Design advantages:
! The superior effect of the VSR BLASTER® air cannon is achieved by the unrestricted flow of compressed air from
the pressure vessel to the discharge pipe.
! The big piston with twice the diameter of the blowing pipe effects an extremely high piston lifting speed. With a
piston travel of a quarter of the blowing pipe diameter, the ring orifice is fully opened for direct inflow. In this
way, the explosive air expansion is achieved.
! Quick exhausting of the piston chamber is done by a large ¾ ” quick exhaust valve with a Viton diaphragm which
is specially developed and directly positioned at the piston chamber.
! Maintenance work on the piston can be carried out without dismounting the vessel by simply removing the
rear cap.
! A spring pushes the piston immediately back and prevents material and dust from penetrating into the vessel.
An impact area at the piston absorbs the recoil.
! Filling and control are carried out through a small Æ
8x1 mm piping which is easily to be installed. Several
control valves can be housed in protective control boxes in easily accessible places. No electric cables have to be
connected to the air cannons.

3
VSR BLASTER® air cannons, mounting details and nozzles

Bunker wall
concrete
or kiln wall

Bunker wall
steel

® ® ®
VSR BLASTER air cannon VSR BLASTER air cannon VSR BLASTER air cannon
(pat.)
with Spreader nozzle with Sword nozzle with Fan jet angle nozzle

Basically, VSR BLASTER® air cannons can be installed
with all bunker constructions. If necessary, the
pressure vessels can be arranged under the silos
(e.g. in silo batteries) or in the conveyor tunnel under
a stockpile.
Openings being about 20 mm bigger than the nominal
pipe diameter are cut or drilled into the silo’s walls near
the critical non-flowing zones. A thread nipple is
mounted in these holes, if necessary with a flange,
while pipe extensions or blow nozzles are mounted at
the inner side.
At the outside, the air cannon is fastened with a pipe
bend by means of a screwed flange set (or a screwed
union) and a suspension device.
Depending on the requirements, the air cannon
discharges directly or through a blow angle, fan jet
angle nozzle, blow head or an isobaric sword nozzle.
Where easily fluidizing material can flow far back into
the exhaust pipe, a check valve is installed.

Nozzles up to 300°C, DN 50/100/150

Blow pipe Spreader nozzle Fan jet angle Fan jet blow Fan jet blow Slot nozzle Isobaric sword
(pat.)
nozzle nozzle nozzle, asymmetrical nozzle

Nozzles up to 1200°C, DN 100/150

(pat.)
Changeable nozzle system

Blow head TG Double blow Fan jet angle Fan jet blow Fan jet blow nozzle Fan jet blow Fan jet angle
head TG nozzle TG nozzle TG TG, asymmetrical nozzle TG nozzle TG

4
Isobaric sword nozzles and Changeable nozzle system
(pat.)
Effect of the isobaric sword nozzle
The cross section of the isobaric nozzle (pat.)
decreases in proportion to flow length. The gap width
of the slit is constant, its total cross section
corresponds to the blow pipe’s cross section. Thus
equal pressure and flow conditions prevail along the
entire slit length regardless of whether, how and with
what material the sword nozzle is covered.
It is well known that cloggings of cement raw meal will
regularly build up in the heat exchanger of cement
rotary kilns. In the past, these had to be removed
manually, using air / water lances or poking bars. To
carry out this laborious and often dangerous task, the
heat exchanger must be completely cooled down.
Nowadays, air cannons are installed at the heat
exchanger, their nozzles blowing parallely or
perpendicularly to the wall to keep the brickwork or
cement lining clean.
However, as soon as the mouth piece of a nozzle is
affected or worn off by chemical reaction, the cleaning
effect decreases.
5
®
VSR BLASTER with sword nozzles at a stockpile
Thus, a great depth and width effect of the air fan
is achieved without loosing the blast effect.
Depending on the size of the air cannon, the sword
nozzles can be up to 6 m long and formed as single or
double sword nozzle.
Sword nozzles enhance the effect of the air cannons
and reduce the number of blast positions.
At that moment or at the latest when the kiln is
scheduled to a standstill, the heat exchanger has to be
brickworked, the stones and the old nozzles have to be
removed and the new ones have to be welded in.
As well, the hollow space has to be filled with
chamotte cement.
To prevent unnecessary damage to the brickwork /
lining, the VSR changeable nozzle system has been
developed, that allows a simple changing of the nozzle
from the outside without inner brickwork lining and
possibly without having the heat exchanger
completely cooled down. This applies not only for the
installation of a completely new heat exchanger
refractory but also in case of later equipment.
Pneumatic control

VSR Industrietechnik GmbH

Am Alten Schacht 6
D- 47198 Duisburg
Tel. +49 (0) 20 66 / 99 66-30
Fax +49 (0) 20 66 / 99 66-62

Internet: www.vsr-industrietechnik.de E-mail: info@vsr-industrietechnik.de

VSR Industrietechnik GmbH

Am Alten Schacht 6
D- 47198 Duisburg
Tel. +49 (0) 20 66 / 99 66-30
Fax +49 (0) 20 66 / 99 66-62

Internet: www.vsr-industrietechnik.de E-mail: info@vsr-industrietechnik.de

Solenoid valve case Electronic S7 control unit for large systems

with pressure control and safety aerating

For reasons of safety and effectiveness, in most cases The solenoid valves are controlled by push buttons,
the air cannons are blown off individually. It is best to or generally by an electronic cycle control that allows
release them in a cycle one after the other from a fully automatic operation. In the simplest form,
bottom to top. solenoid valves with adjustable operating time and
The actuation frequency depends on the problem. subsequent interval cycle card are used.
They can be fired every minute or once per hour, shift, A more universal operation, primarily for larger
day or week. systems, is permitted by using electronic or
microprocessor control units. Air cannons should be
The firing is initiated by hand lever valves or solenoid secured against unauthorized refilling (e.g. during
valves with auxiliary manual actuation. maintenance works).
max. 10 m
Ø 8x1

1/2”
4-10 bar
DN 6
1/4"
NO

In general, fill and control tubes not longer than 10 m of stainless steel or copper ø 8x1 are used, with simple
applications even polyamid tubes. Cutting ring couplings have to be used to prevent any reduction of the cross
section. The hand valves and solenoid valves can be mounted in groups together with an air service device in a
well accessible location. Normally, the solenoid valves will be contained in a protective steel cabinet.

6
VSR BLASTER® air cannons

K
A
Æ
O
Æ
Æ

A
C

L
N
B B1

M
R
® ®
VSR BLASTER Air cannon Type IV, with internal valve VSR BLASTER Air cannon Type EV1 and EV2, with external valve

Masures and weights

Type = VB 12 IV VB 20 IV VB 33 IV VB 50 IV VB 75 IV VB 100 IV VB 150 IV VB 300 IV VB 500 IV

Volume VB 50 EV1* VB 75 EV1* VB 100 EV1* VB 150 EV1* VB 300 EV1* VB 500 EV1*
Liter
VB 50 EV2** VB 75 EV2** VB 100 EV2** VB 150 EV2** VB 300 EV2** VB 500 EV2**

ØA R 2” R 2” R 2” DN100 DN100 DN100 DN100 DN150 DN150

B 516 516 773 822 1022 825 1000 1280 1360

B1 160 160 160 230 230 230 230 230 230

ØC 206 276 276 360 360 500 500 650 800

K - - - 746±8 1011±8 830±8 1090±8 1340±8 1390±8

L - - - 219,1 219,1 219,1 219,1 219,1 219,1

M - - - 185 185 185 185 237 237

N - - - 550 550 550 550 800 800

O - - - 638±8 903±8 710±8 970±8 1212±8 1275±8

R - - - 1120±8 1385±8 1204±8 1464±8 1818±8 1868±8

60,0 70,0 88,0 101,5 228,0 327,0

weight 16,0 19,4 27,0 58,0* 68,0* 80,0* 90,0* 190,0* 285,0*
(kg) 81,0** 91,0** 121,0** 131,0** 240,0** 305,0**

Operating pressure max. 10 bar. Temperature TS min. -10°C up to TS max. +120°C. Manufactured according to AD 2000 / DGRL 97/23/EG /
TÜV CERT. / EG character: 0044. All dimensions in mm, technical modifications reserved. Please contact us for detailed information.

12 20 33 50 75 100 150 300 500 Liter

7
Advantages
Working medium Low Noise level
In most cases, compressed air as supplied by a The noise of the expanding compressed air is almost
standard system will be the adequate working medium. completely absorbed by the bulk material.

The VSR BLASTER® air cannons operate in a pressure
range of 4-10 bar with increasing effectiveness. Often,
a pressure of 6 bar is sufficient. The operating intervals
can be reduced to less than 5 seconds (if necessary),
while often only a few blasts per day are needed.
If compressed air is not acceptable in the process,
inert gas can be used.
High temperature and Pressurized vessels
VSR BLASTER® air cannons can be used in high
temperature and pressurized vessels (up to 1100° C
and 6 bar), when special arrangements are provided.
Low Energy consumption
Since the air cannon operates intermittently, it
consumes only a fraction of the energy needed for
conventional pneumatic fluidization systems.
Simple Installation and Operation
The air cannon is mounted with only a few pipe fittings
at the bunker. It will be connected to the compressed
air system by means of a 3/2 way valve and can be
controlled by an automatic, electronic control panel.
Accident prevention
The VSR BLASTER® air cannons meet the pressure
vessel safety regulations. There is absolutely no
danger to the bunker itself nor to its contents. Due to
the low volume of compressed air and the use of a
sparkless valve, there is no danger of initiating an
explosion (e.g. in case of coal dust).
Inert gas, e.g. nitrogen, can be used instead of
compressed air. Recommendations of the authorized
associations for silo safety are available.

Guarantee of Effect
VSR BLASTER® air cannon systems, when installed according to our individual recommendations, are guaranteed to
perform to the customer's satisfaction, or the components may be returned for full credit within a period to be agreed upon.

Product programme

VSR BLASTER® Air cannons DUSTEX® VIBREX®

and air injectors Dust suppression system Conveyor belt cleaning

LINEX® CAREX® VIBMATIC 6000®

VSR Industrietechnik GmbH 03/2012

Conveyor belt centralizing idler sealing of conveyor belt transfers Vibration stress reduction
Technical modifications reserved

VSR Industrietechnik GmbH

Am Alten Schacht 6
D- 47198 Duisburg
Tel. +49 (0) 20 66 / 99 66-30
Fax +49 (0) 20 66 / 99 66-62

Internet: www.vsr-industrietechnik.de E-mail: info@vsr-industrietechnik.de